I'm so grateful that I got the chance to make my dreams come true and attend an American High School for a year and to have an amazing time, full of experiences. I've learned so much by being in a foreign culture and by improving my English skills. I want more people to make the decision for a year abroad and I'm hoping that I'll be able to encourage other kids to take the risk. I became so much more confident and I've learned a lot about myself. I'm way more open to try new things, talk to new people, I'm more ambitious and I'm a lot more independent than I was a year ago.
When I first got back, I really struggled with my "normal" life, because everything was as it always has been. There was not really anything that could distract me from wanting to go back to California. After a couple weeks I started realizing that my "old new" life wasn't that boring, because people have changed and so have I. Of course, I'm still missing America a lot but it was the same when I first got there and was missing Switzerland. But I guess now I actually have two homes.
Since I never actually finished my exchange year story on here, let me tell you now.
When we got back from San Francisco, I had like 3 days left in Tehachapi. So, I packed out my stuff, washed some of it and packed it back into my big suitcase. I quit my GoPhone account and all that, had a goodbye party, said goodbye to Nadja, ate my favorite American foods one last time, drove by my high school and yeah. Since my host brother left earlier that day, I said goodbye to him and later we took all my stuff to the car and drove to the tiny Bakersfield Airport. We got there a little early, so I could unpack my stuff just in case it'd be too heavy, which it was, and so I was able to have a proper goodbye with my host sister, her friend and my host mum. Literally 5 minutes before I was supposed to go through the security check, we all started crying so hard. Then I did the security check and everything and left Bakersfield. A couple hours later, I was back in San Francisco because I had a crappy flight route. I had to wait in San Francisco for about 7 hours until I could board for Zurich. I bought a couple souvenirs and then it was time to leave America.
"The last hours of your Exchange are the most confusing ones you will go through. You sit in the car, driving to the airport. You know: This is the last chance to enjoy this life you've been used to. The last time to see this city, these people for a very long time; maybe for ever. You don't know what to do, what to say or what to feel. Because tomorrow you'll see family again, your friends and the whole world you always missed in the last months. And you sit in the car, just staring at the sky, thinking about how evil Leaving is."
At this point, I would really like to thank my amazing host family for giving me the opportunity to stay with them. I miss you tons and I can't wait to see you again someday.
I also really miss Tehachapi High and I'll always be a Tehachapi warrior.
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